Carrot Credit, a Nigerian fintech startup, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to scale its asset-backed lending platform across the continent. The round, led by MaC Venture Capital with backing from Authentic Ventures, will support product development, team expansion, and deeper integrations with digital investment platforms.
Founded in 2023 by Boluwatife Aiki-Raji, Carrot Credit is tackling a critical gap in the African credit market: access to fair and flexible loans for individuals with digital investment assets. Unlike traditional lenders that require income statements or rely on credit scores, Carrot allows users to leverage their investment portfolios—such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies—as collateral to access affordable credit without having to liquidate their holdings.
“People were investing in all types of things—stocks, crypto, fixed income—but many didn’t recognize those investments as worth anything. That was the initial idea: why can’t this be collateral?” said Aiki-Raji.
Through API integrations with brokerage and fintech platforms, Carrot connects to users’ accounts, verifies their asset holdings, and places a lien on those assets. Borrowers can then access up to 40% of their stock portfolio’s value, and up to 70% for fixed-income assets like government bonds or treasury bills. In the case of more volatile investments, such as crypto or high-risk stocks, the credit limit may be lower—around 10%.
This model enables users to maintain their investment positions while accessing much-needed liquidity. For instance, an investor with ₦1 million in government bonds could unlock ₦700,000 in credit without selling the bonds. Loan repayments are flexible, with users choosing between fixed durations (3, 6, or 12 months) or open monthly repayment plans.
Carrot has already processed over $2 million in loans and served more than 10,000 users, many of whom are digitally-savvy young investors. The company’s below-market interest rates and flexible terms position it as a distinct player among Nigerian digital lenders, such as FairMoney, Carbon, Aella Credit, and Sycamore, which typically offer short-term loans based on income or credit history.
What sets Carrot apart is its embedded B2B2C model, which integrates its services directly into the platforms where people already manage their investments. This approach makes borrowing seamless and convenient for users, while offering financial institutions a way to extend credit services without building them from scratch.
“Everyone writes a deck claiming a trillion-dollar market,” Aiki-Raji noted. “I’d rather define our market as anyone who can put money aside in digital assets—that’s who we’re building for.”
The funding round reflects growing investor interest in alternative credit infrastructure tailored to Africa’s emerging digital economy. Marlon Nichols, co-founder of MaC Venture Capital, said the firm was impressed by Carrot’s ability to deliver “a seamless, low-barrier credit solution in markets where credit has traditionally been out of reach.”
As embedded finance continues to gain traction across Africa, Carrot Credit is well-positioned to lead a new wave of inclusive, asset-based lending—unlocking opportunities for everyday investors who’ve long been excluded from traditional financial systems.
